Heidi Gardner

Heidi Lynn Gardner (born July 27, 1983) is an American actress, comedian, and writer, who currently works as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. She also voices the anthropomorphic cat Cooch on the Crackle series SuperMansion, which was later broadcast under a secondary license by U.S. cable network Adult Swim.

Early life[]

Gardner was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, where she was born on July 27, 1983.^[1] She grew up with an older brother, Justin.^[2]

Growing up, Gardner worked part-time at the Tivoli Theater, where she did everything "from selling tickets to making popcorn." She later credited the theater as "setting the tone in her life."^[3] Gardner was not interested in acting as a child, only performing on stage as a flutist for the school band and doing comedy sketches in school talent shows.^[4] Gardner graduated from the all-girls Catholic high school Notre Dame de Sion in 2001. In her senior year, she was voted by her classmates as "Most likely to be a cast member of Saturday Night Live."^[2] Upon graduation, Gardner followed in the footsteps of a friend and enrolled at the University of Kansas for two years, before transferring to the University of Missouri. Although she became uninterested in school and often skipped classes, Gardner discovered a fondness for haircutting.^[4]

Career[]

At the age of 21, Gardner dropped out of college and left Missouri to move to Los Angeles, where she worked at a hair salon for nine years.^[5] Prior to the move, she saved up $600 over one summer.^[6] She was encouraged by a friend to attend a performance at The Groundlings theatre, where she became inspired to become an actress.^[5] Due to her lack of acting experience, Gardner enrolled in community workshops to learn the basics of improvising. Once she was comfortable, Gardner auditioned into the Groundlings basic class and was accepted.^[4]

In 2014, Gardner joined the Sunday Company, and a year later, after a promotion to the Main Company, she quit her job as a hairstylist to focus on acting.^[4] During that time, she became a voice actress,^[7] regularly appearing on animated series such as Bratz, SuperMansion, and Mike Tyson Mysteries.^[8] In 2017, Gardner joined the cast of Saturday Night Live (SNL) for its forty-third season.^[6]

Following her first year on SNL, Gardner was hired to play the supporting role of Leonor in the Ben Falcone-directed film Life of the Party, alongside Melissa McCarthy.^[4] On August 28, 2019, TVLine reported that Gardner would have a guest role on the NBC comedy series Superstore playing Dina Fox's nemesis Colleen who is transferred to Store 1217 after Cloud 9’s Bel-Ridge location gets shut down.^[9] In 2019, Gardner made her stage debut in Michael Frayn's Noises Off at The Cape Playhouse in Dennis, Massachusetts.^[10]

Recurring characters on Saturday Night Live^[11]

• Angel (Every Boxer’s Girlfriend), a distressed woman who tries to give "Weekend Update's Good News Report," but inevitably derails into melodramatic rants about her boyfriend's dangerous boxing career.
• Bailey Gismert, a teen film critic who gives awkward reviews.
• Brie Bacardi, one half of a shallow couple always on the brink of an argument, who runs a relationship-themed Instagram account with her boyfriend Nico Slobkin (Mikey Day).
• Baskin Johns, A Woman who works for Goop and gets worried Gwyneth will fire her.
• Mandy, A cousin of a celebrity that shames their movie careers
• Sandy, A happy joyful cook of a Cooking Show that is qualified and skilled though she often gets passed over as a winner
• Tamra, An unqualified Instagram poster for a company

Personal life[]

Gardner met her husband, Marvel Comics writer Zeb Wells, while she was a member of the Groundlings.^[12]

Filmography[]

Film

Television

Web

Audio

Stage[]

Writing credits[]

Web

References[]

External links[]

• Heidi Gardner at IMDb